Area 1A girls soccer teams all in same sectional

All 14 area Class 1A girls high school soccer teams are assigned to the Rochester Sectional.

When the dust settles, there will be only one winner.

Last year's champion was Rochester. The host Rockets defeated Mount Zion 3-0 for the sectional title. In the next game, they fell 1-0 to Alton Marquette at the Edwardsville Metro-East Lutheran Supersectional.

Rochester (13-7) poses a threat again, but two-time defending champion Quincy Notre Dame (19-2-1) looms large on the horizon. QND, the No. 1 seed at the Williamsville Regional, was assigned to the Bloomington Central Catholic Sectional in 2013.

The host team is seeded second behind QND at Williamsville. The Bullets have 17 shutouts and lost their first game with one week left in the regular season when Pleasant Plains knocked them off May 3. Williamsville (18-1-1) and third-seeded Plains (16-4-1) meet in a rematch Wednesday.

“This is the most balanced we've been in my five years as head coach,” Williamsville coach Joe Fandel said. “I feel our midfield works well with the offense and defense. We're very good with transitioning between offense and defense.”

Williamsville and Litchfield were one win short of reaching the sectional title match last season.

Litchfield (18-3-1) is the top seed at its own regional.

“We're starting four freshmen and moved a lot of players around, and it took a while to adjust, but we really started clicking,” Litchfield coach Bill Bergen said. “We lost Taylor Niehaus (to graduation). Jade Taylor stepped into that spot, took over and took off. I've been telling people all along she was going to be a fantastic player.”

Taylor, a freshman, broke the school record — set by Niehaus (33) in 2012 — with 35 goals.

Goalkeeper Hope Brakenhoff set the record for shutouts in a season with 13.

“I rave about Jade, but if it wasn't for Amanda Nevins, we wouldn't have 13 shutouts,” Bergen said. “Amanda is an outstanding defender.”

Rochester, the top seed at the Lutheran Regional, doesn't have the prolific scorers it has enjoyed in the past.

“We're not the scoring team we were last year,” Rochester coach Chad Kutscher said. “Last year, we had four or five players in double figures.

“We've had a lot of chances. We get a lot of shots. We don't score a lot.”

Prior to Saturday's 6-1 win against Highland, Rochester didn't have a double-digit scorer. Senior Lyndi Saccaro leads the Rockets with 10 goals after scoring three against Highland. Sophomores Becca Jostes and Baylee Smith are tied with nine goals apiece. Jostes is first in assists with 12.

Page 2 of 2 - “Our defense has been pretty darn solid at times,” Kutscher said. “We're not beating teams by five or six goals. We may win by one or two.”